Notables
-CSS had a season-high 11 hits in the game two win
-Kagan hits first collegiate home run in game two
-Ratcliff hits second home run in as many days
-Schley has reached base in all eight games and 15 straight dating back to last season
ST. PAUL, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica softball team earned a split on Monday with Bethel University, dropping game one 14-6 and then pulling out game two 6-5 at the West St. Paul Dome.
Bethel 14, CSS 6 (F/6)
The Royals (3-1) scored runs in five of the six innings, including 11 consecutive runs to defeat the Saints 14-6 in six innings to open the doubleheader.
Maggie Schley (Mounds View, Minn./Irondale HS) opened the scoring with a RBI single in the top of the first to bring in
Hannah Thul (Superior, Wis./Superior HS) and make it 1-0. In the bottom frame, Bethel scored three runs before CSS recorded an out and led 3-1 after one.
St. Scholastica re-gained the lead in the second after having five runs come across. Three of those runs came off the bat of
Karissa Ratcliff (North Branch, Minn./North Branch HS), who hit her second home run in as many days to make it 4-3. Later in the inning.
Nicole Anders (Port Angeles, Wash./Sequim HS) scored off of a Bethel error and
Toni Bishop (Roseville, Minn./Roseville HS) drew a bases loaded walk to make it 6-3.
The Royals added two-out runs in the second and third innings to cut the margin to 6-5. In the fourth, Bethel's first five batters reached base via a hit and led 9-6. It added three more runs following a CSS pitching change to plate seven in the inning and lead 12-6. The Royals scored two more runs in the sixth to end the game by mercy-rule 14-6.
Anders was 3-for-4 at the plate to lead the CSS offense. The Royals finished with 17 hits in the victory.
CSS 6, Bethel 5
The Saints handed the Royals their first loss of the season in the second game with a
Lily Kagan (Anchorage, Alaska/Robert Service HS) RBI single in the fifth proving to be the difference in a 6-5 win.
Bethel recorded a two-out RBI single in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead. That stood until the second inning when Kagan hit her first collegiate home run, a two-run shot to give the Saints a 2-1 lead.
CSS added to its lead in the fourth, first with a Schley sacrifice fly to bring in
Sydney Plemel (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice HS).
Olivia Howe (Scandia, Minn./Forest Lake HS) then drove in Anders and Thul scored on an error to make it 5-1.
However, Bethel rallied in the fifth with four runs coming across to tie the contest at 5-5. The Saints responded in the bottom frame as
Krysta Felber (Rogers, Minn./Rogers HS) led with a single and then stole second base. Kagan followed with a RBI single to bring in Felber and give the Saints the lead back at 6-5.
That is all Schley needed as she held the Royals off the scoreboard the rest of the way to give the Saints the 6-5 win.
Both teams finished with 11 hits in game two. Kagan was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Howe was 3-for-4 with a RBI for the Saints. Schley struck out three to earn her second win of the season.
Up Next
The Saints (3-5) head to Tucson, Arizona for the Tucson Invitational Games. CSS will open on Sunday with games against Mount Mary University (Wis.) and Skidmore College (N.Y.).
